Want drier air? Have a look at this.

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nitrowoodtic

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Sep 6, 2017
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Minnesota, United States
Not sure If anyone would be interested in this or, if it has been discussed here. This is an industrial gear box breather. On my Omega air charger. Before filling pull a couple plugs out of the bottom and replace them when your done. I see a significant reduction in moisture. I also use a gold filter with molecular sieve on the output. I typically only pull 4 of the plugs out when filling. It is not very restrictive and has a fair dust filter inside.. It does have some weight to it so, some support is a good idea to prevent stress or failure of the air intake. A couple wraps of electrical tape makes for a snug fit on the intake.
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Simple color changing silica gel. That filter/drier has been on the compressor for over a year but in all honesty, I havent used it that much. Maybe 3-5 hours filling my large bottle. I would just replace the cartridge once the beads start changing pink but, you could cut it open and bake the silica if you really wanted. I do have a spare in plastic and a larger used one. The large one was mostly wet when I got it. I thought about opening it up and refreshening it, just haven’t got to it yet.
 
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The beads are barely loose with just some slight movement and there is some resistance to flow if your trying to push a lot of air through it. However most pcp compressors dont have that much intake air flow. for example, on a Yong Heng compressor i would pull all the small red plugs out of the bottom when filling and you should have plenty of air flow with little if any restriction. Just put the plugs back in when your done.
As for the dimensions, they are available in 3 different hights as you can see in one of the pictures, 4,6,8 inches roughly. Diameter is about 3.8 inches, and the bottom is threaded 1 1/4 NPT. The internal pipe diameter is about 0.9 inches. Inlet holes are 0.4 inches.

Effectivness,
So many variables and I don’t want to make any outlandish claims. For my use, if I had to guess based on water from the moisture trap/seperator and other things I’ve observed, 70-90% reduction in water from the drain. I have a small(yong heng) prefilter before my large gold filter on the discharge. I used to get some dampness on the small pre-filter. Now with the 6 inch gearbox breather installed I find NO noticeable moisture in the pre-filter. My compressor is on the slow side, so the silica has some time to do it’s job. A higher capacity compressor may not get as good of results but, I’d be interested to hear what others results are.

John
 
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Thanks, John
Most helpful information. indeed.
Before trying this out on my Yong Heng I may work on the input side filter on a 4 stage hand pump.
The filter is factory filled with molecular sieve.
Which as you undoubtedly know is not useful unless the air is pressurized.
Swapping in silica gel may be effective, however.

FWIW
I am having trouble opening files at the Beach website.
On your YH is the gearbox breather refillable or a throw away?
Ed
 
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SilentSquirrel said:
Thanks, John
Most helpful information. indeed.
Before trying this out on my Yong Heng I may work on the input side filter on a 4 stage hand pump.
The filter is factory filled with molecular sieve.
Which as you undoubtedly know is not useful unless the air is pressurized.
Swapping in silica gel may be effective, however.

FWIW
I am having trouble opening files at the Beach website.
On your YH is the gearbox breather refillable or a throw away?
Ed
Click to expand...
They are factory sealed but you should be able to cut it open and recharge the silica if your creative. Here in northern Minnesota the sub zero temps and super dry air might allow me to dry it out without cutting it open. Kind of like freeze drying.
 
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Now if you wanted that idea to work for you then you'd incert the desiccant drier between first and second stage on your compressor.
As mentioned many times before: Even if you get inlet air to 1% hum then you're at 300% at 4500psi.
1% at ambinet comes to 10% at 145psi, and 100% at 1450psi so roughly 300% at 4500psi.
It's a bitch but you cant cheat at math!

Normal air compressed 17 times will get to way beyond 100% and then the silica gel really has something to work with.

I have a couple of boosters that run on shop air and at 10bar~145psi inlet the silica gel reaally gets a working. On the other hand i rarely change my HP desiccant because of that.

Food for thought!
 
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You can also try cooling the air below it’s dew point. This is why I chill my big gold filter before filling my tank. Food for thought. Intercoolers and after coolers with moisture traps are fairly commmon in systems using compressed air in moisture sensitive control and automation systems along with desiccant or refrigeration filters. Even so, some moisture seems to always get through. Just gotta do the best you can with what you got.:)

just another thouht, increasing dwell time in the descant will help remove more moisture. This is a downside of faster compressors unless you make your filters really big.
 
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Yes. I have read about the relationship between pressure, temperature, and (relative & absolute) humidity.
Admittedly it is all "book learning" without the experience base & practical knowledge of @Chickenthief
My reference is that any reduction in the amount of moisture in the air going in is better than not filtering.
Assuming of course that the filtering process is not putting an excessive load on the compressor (or hand pump)

Please feel free to correct any misconception I may be living under on this.

Ed
 
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